Tractor transmission mechanism



Aug.,v 19 1924.

CIv H, BUTLER TRACTOR TRANSMTSSION MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet l Filed May 5, 1922 ewa/w55 H, :suur/e.

Aug. E9 i924,

C. H. BU'LER TRACTOR TRANSMISSION MECHANISM Filed May' 5, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet Z l,505,37 c. H. BUTLER TRACTOR TRANSMIS S ION MECHANISM Filed May 5, 1922 4 SheetsfSheet 3 .ZZI

c. H. BUTLER TRACTOR TRANSMISSION MECHANISM Filed May 5, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Aug.' 19 1924.

v ilu/1227011 CH/IELE H. 5072.55

iiatented ug. 19, 1924.

UNITED GHARLES H. BUTLER, OF"OAKLAND,.'CALIFORNIA.

'TRACTQB TRNSM :Application tied i3,

Tovdll wlw-m c'tmmli/ concern.'

iBe `it known tliat.;I,1.CH-.^,Rnns BUTLER,

acitizen of the United States, residing lat (Qa-irland, county Lof Alameda, and yState of iCnlifornia, have invented newland .useful Improvements Ain Tractor rFransmission .h/iechanism, of which l.the following 'is a 'specific-ation.

This inventionirelatesftoitractors, and has forits objectzto produce attractor ,of simple and economical construction sand one `oapable of `easy control and vturning 'radius :having a ,small :Initlic design of tliisrtractor I have sought to reduce :the vcost of =thesame :tof/a 4point comparablewith the cost of the ,present so- .called walking tractors, and at the ksame time provide tfor suflicient lpower/:and ruggedness that the tractor will servefall .the purposes of the higher priced light tractors. I ymake use of stand-ard vparts throughout and so arrange and combine themin order that machine work will be reduced to a minimum. The tractor drives and steers through its traction wheels, there being a caster wheel at one end of the frame instead of the usual steering wheels To further reduce the cost` of construction I prefer to omit change speed transmission mechanism, using, instead, a novel and simplified transmission mechanism afi'ording one forward and one reverse speed. The drive to each traction wheel is independently controlled so that either wheel may be run forwardly, reversely or stopped entirely independent of the other wheel.

One form which my invention may assume is exemplified in the following description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 shows a side elevation of atractor embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 shows a plan view of the same.

Fig. 3 shows a detail sectional view of one of the forward drive connections and control means therefor.

Fig. t shows a plan view of the forward and reverse driving connections and control means therefor.

Fig. 5 shows an end elevation of theparts illustrated in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 shows a sectional viewV through one of the clutch mechanisms.

The tractor herein shown preferably comprises a main frame 10 having a pair of traction wheels 11 at the rear ournaled upon IssIoNfm/rnoiinnrsm. f

1922. seria1i\io s55k8,05o.

an axle l2. A casterwheel 18 .is arranged ,atl-the rforward end of the frame. This y'fname carries at `its forward `enda motor having a driving chain 11i extending gbacl;

ito, Iand connected with, :a countershaft l5 which extends transversely yof the, main| frame. This countershaftis-iittednear each Vend -withzazlarge spur gear '16 and a smaller spur .gear 17.

.Paralleliwith the countershaft is aj divided drive'shaft :18. The outer endof eachi part rvof this @shaft is Yfitted ywith ar drivingpinion 19 r,meshing -with Aan yinternal gear 2() on the adjacentftraction wheel. On eachgpartk of the kdrive shaft is a .forward driving :spur Y gear .2l meshing with the spur .gear kl' on thecountershaft,and a --reverse driving ygear 22 meshing `with an idler pinion 23, which idler .pinion .inturnmeshes with the gear 17 ion the countershaft. Both .idlerfpinions are journaledupona support 241: fixed to a centrally arranged sill mem` bei' 25 forming a part of the main frame.

Each of the gears 2]. and 22 carries a friction clutch member 26 and interposed between these clutch members is a sliding sleeve 27 keyed to the drive shaft and carrying at each end a friction clutch member 28 for `co-o-peration with the clutch member on the adjacent gear. A fork 29 carried by a rock shaft 30 serves to shift this sliding sleeve. to bring either one of the co-operating clutch devices into engagement. yThis rock shaft extends rearwardly to a point adjacent the axle and is fitted with a segmental gear 31' of the bevel type f Mounted upon the laxle is a lever 32 carrying al segmental gear 33 meshing with the gear 31. There is one lever for controlling each clutch-carrying sleeve and these levers are operated independently of each other. Movement of the lever forwardly engages the associated forward driving connections, whereas a rearward movement of the lever causes engagement of the reverse driving connections. When the lever is in a central position, then the con* nected clutch-carrying element is in neutral position.

A rod 34C fixed to the frame bars extends through a lug 35 depending from the rock shaft 30 and a compressible coil spring 36 wound upon the rod 34 presses against each side of the lug 35, tending thereby to retain the rock shaft 30 in position where the connected clutch-carrying element will be in neutral position. Therefore, when the operator lets go of a control lever,v ity will operatively connected by sprockets and chain with the motor, said countershaft extending parallel with the axle, a drive shaft for each traction wheel, said shafts being arranged in longitudinal alignment with each other and in parallelism with the countershaft, a driving pinion fixed at the outer end of each drive shaft, a spur gear fixed on each traction wheel with which gears said driving pinions mesh, a forward drive gear and a reverse drive gear rotatably mounted on each drive shaft, said reverse drive gears being disposed adjacent and at opposite sides of the longitudinal center of the main frame, an idler gear for each reverse gear, said idlers beingjournaled in bearing on the center sill of the main frame, drive gears fixed on the countershaft in mesh with said idler gears, other driving gears on the countershaft in mesh with the forward drive gears on the drive shafts, clutch elements on the contiguous faces of the forward and the reverse gears of each drive shaft, a sliding sleeve splined on each drive shaft and interposed between the forward and reverse drive gears thereon, clutch elements at each of the ends of said lsleeves for cooperation with the clutch elements onthe forward and reverse drive gears, yindependent control means for each of said sliding sleeves, each of said control means comprising a rock shaft having a yoke connected to the sleeve, said rock shaft extending to the axle, a lever on the axle to actuate said rock shaft, means for maintaining said sleeves in neutral positions, said means comprising transverse rods fixed to the main frame, and lugs depending from the rock shafts and engaging said rod, and compres/sible springs on the rods pressing against the sides of the lugs.

CHARLES H. BUTLER. 

